A transverse leaf spring suspension, particularly using a composite leaf spring such as the fiberglass Liteflex.RTM. spring manufactured by Delphi Automotive Systems, can provide mass and space reduction in a vehicle wheel suspension. Such a suspension provides a single, transversely oriented leaf spring to provide both heave and roll compliance for a pair of wheels: one on each side of the vehicle. It is generally desirable that the ratio of spring rates in the roll and heave modes (roll ratio) be high, so that the suspension provides resistance to vehicle body roll in turns while remaining compliant in vertical motion to avoid harshness in ride. If a transverse leaf spring is used, each of these often conflicting goals must be addressed in the same spring.
The suspension apparatus of this invention is an improvement over the apparatus shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,807 to McGibbon et al, in which a standard composite leaf spring of uniform cross-sectional area is supported by a pair of mounts having pivot studs projecting fore and aft from a retainer clamped on the spring into a receptacle on a vehicle body cross member to provide a pivoting support with respect to the vehicle body. The pivoting mount of McGibbon et al reduces restriction on the flexing of a leaf spring in heave mode but still provides some restriction due to its low longitudinal translation compliance. In addition, it is complicated to manufacture, due to the necessity of the pivot axis being aligned with the spring shear axis.